I find no reason whatsoever to buy a party hat. Wait, let me rephrase that. I find no reason to buy a party hat without jazzing it up! It’s totally legit to buy the paper ones and doll them up, or, just download a hat template and make it from scratch. But of course that all depends on how many you need to make. My daughter’s first birthday party is in two weeks and to be honest, I don’t feel the need to make a hat for everyone…just for her. So, since I’m only making one, I can really dedicate some time and thought to it. Let’s explore the world of homemade party hats, shall we?
1. Never would I ever make this hat from Wedding Chicks (pictured above) for a 1-year old baby (glitter in the eyes, mouth, ears, cake, etc), but I love love love the ombre affect! I think I would try something a little cleaner with some glitter paper from American Crafts and glitter tape from Shop Sweet Lulu.
2. These DIY party hats from Oh Happy Day are soft and lovely and feel so right for a darling 1-year-old girl on her birthday.
3. These DIY printable party hats from Chic Mother & Baby couldn’t be simpler. Download the design, print, cut and glue! And they are pretty precious!
4. Love the bling! These homemade party hats from Glee Projects would be perfect for New Year’s Eve…or in brighter colors for Sommer’s first birthday party hat!
5. I’m all about repurposing, and these paper-cup party hats from Real Simple are totally adorable and so, so simple!
6. I’m kinda loving these butcher paper, marker, and pipe cleaner hats from Salsa Pie. The combo of the glittery pipe cleaners with the plain ole brown paper is genius. What a fun craft for kids!
7. Again, another totally unpredicable combo of silver and wood grain by Creative Jewish Mom. But it works so well, especially with those pops of pink and yellow.
8. I love the idea of putting party hats on the favors! Saw this today at Shop Sweet Lulu’s blog! (Read this post…I love that this party centered around this orange cat from Ikea…colors, theme, the whole bit!)
9. A party hat made from an ice cream cone? Yes please! Made by the brilliant ladies of One Charming Party.
10. A classic Martha Stewart Living masterpiece, these DIY party hats are made by gluing 2 circles together!
Really and truly, I could come up with dozens of topics for Easter egg posts…animals eggs, people eggs, egg totems…but I feel the need to think outside the shell a little bit. Today, I’ve chosen to feature egg crafts that are a specific color for a specific reason. Huh, you ask? Take a look…
As a New Yorker, the brilliance of these MTA Subway eggs above just can’t even be put into words. I’m just mad I never thought of it. Made by The Soho.
Oh Pantone, how we love to use you as a motif! How About Orange dyed eggs, then accurately matched them to her Pantone chips. Smart lil lady.
Leave it to Martha Stewart to bring color theory into Easter egg crafting. And turn out a gorgeous, modern result. Found via Present & Correct.
Spring has sprung (technically) so it’s time to start planning some planting projects for the kids! Here are a few simple ideas that will really get them excited about gardening…
Remember my perler-bead craft post last week? The planter above is so amazing, it’s a product. If you aren’t such a planner (this design would take some design skillz), this would even be cool if you just did stripes of color. Via Peaches & Keen.
Cut a hole in a plastic animal toy and create a succulent planter. Genius! Found via Digs Digs.
This one was a new one for me…I’d never seen a plant in an ice cream cone! Adorbs! Found via Home DIY Pins.
It’s the simplest idea, but one of my all-time faves: a planter in the bed of a vintage truck toy. Found via Charming Spaces.
One of the last stories I produced as Lifestyle Director at Parents Magazine was this Easter egg story by the amazingly talented Jocelyn Worrall. Prepare yourself for some overwhelming cuteness!
These beauties were made with just a simple brush and tempera paint.
We’ve all seen the chick Easter egg craft before, but these yellow-dyed large eggs are sitting in jumbo egg shells. Genius. Watch the how-to video here.
This technique uses rubber cement. So easy to do and the results are gorgeous! Watch a how-to video here.
Wrap a ceramic or wooden egg in white yarn to make these fluffy bunnies that you can use year after year. Watch a how-to video here.
These little guys might possibly be my favorite. Keep clicking through the slideshow on Parents.com to see the instructions.
This morning my head is swarming with craft ideas, so I need to be fast on the blog. This image from The Purl Bee is so full of yummy color, texture, material…it makes me feel hopeful that beautiful will churn out of this studio today.
Glue gun is plugged in, the French press is full, Pandora is singing, my babies are happy…and off I go. Happy Monday everyone!
Writers, photographers, reporters, and documentarians travel the world to search for differences and similarities in all aspects of countries and cultures—food, politics, landscape, architecture, and the list goes on. The general consensus is there is very little that is universal except perhaps the basic need for necessities like food, shelter, and clothing.
Alessia – Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Photographer Gabriele Galimberti travelled the world, examining a very unique relationship— the connection of children to their toys. After 18 months of shooting these gorgeous photographs of children with their toys, he discovered that “at their age, they are pretty much all much the same. They just want to play.” This piece by Ben Machell from The Times Magazine reveals some interesting insight into how the affluence of the kids affected how they allowed Galimberti to interact with their toys and how their homeland and parents influenced what they chose to play with.
Stella – Montecchio, Italy
Bethsaida – Port au Prince, Haiti
Of course this all made me think about my kids, Oliver and Sommer, and their relationship to their most prized toys. At almost a year, Sommer, for the most part, wants whatever her 2 and a half year old brother has, but Oliver’s proclivities are a little more telling. He loves his toy New York City Subway trains, since he knows that Mommy and Daddy ride the train to work. He loves his paints, markers, and crayons; Mommy seemingly “plays” with those materials all day. And I guess for Sommer, I can say that she grabs her one babydoll (we named her Automn), enthusiastically hugging and kissing her; she is probably modeling my desperate attempts to hug and cuddle my baby girl, fearing that she is growing up too fast.
Li Yi Chen – Shenyang, China
Maudy – Kalulushi, Zambia
Do your kids’ toys reflect where you live, who you are, or what you, as parents, do for a living? Do their toys bring you back to your childhood?
There is so much emotion, symbolism, and narrative to decode in Galimberti’s exquisite photographs. I want to know so much more about each child, her family, and what his toys mean to him. Visit Galimberti’s site to see the rest of the series, each one more captivating than the last.
It’s March 14, hence 3/14, hence the reason to celebrate PIE! (If you are math-challenged, read about Pi here.) I’ll take any excuse to eat, talk about, read about, look at pie. In fact, I think I need more pie in my life. I love this image of a potluck pie party from Bon Appetit. I could seriously get behind that. Feast your eyes on some more fun PIE play…
The first time I saw this pumpkin pie Thanksgiving kids’ favor from One Charming Party, I nearly died. It was one of those “I wish I had thought of that” moments!
Cakes get stands, so why don’t pies? I love the rustic look of these galvanized pie stands from BHLDN. They’d be great for the pie potluck!
Ok, I must confess, this is one holiday that I fully ignore every year. I don’t wear green underwear and I don’t buy gold chocolate coins. But it’s 2013, the era of the elevated craft, so of course St. Patty’s Day has taken on a whole new modern, elegant aesthetic. Oleander & Palm has shown me the path of the sophisticated St. Patrick’s Day. I didn’t think it could be done, but she did it. Bravo!
Not just green and gold silhouettes, but green and gold silhouettes of kids holding 4-leaf clovers. So sweet.
Seriously, I could live with this shamrock wall decal on my wall all year round.
Everyone should enjoy a green beverage on St. Patty’s Day. And it doesn’t have to be held with a coozie or make you belch. A lime shebert fizzy drink? I’d drink you even without the cute gold-heart shamrock.
I never had an egg cup growing up (I think that constitutes neglect), and now as an adult, I’m a little unnaturally obsessed with them. From vintage to the handmade to the hipster (yes, there are hipster egg cups), I want all 11 of these egg cups!
When I see buckets of perler beads at Michaels, I move past with no hesitation. I’m not totally against plastic, but I just don’t have a mind for what to do with them. I think my opinion changed after seeing these delicate pastel, perler-bead bangles from Maker Mama. Look at these other amazing crafts made with perler beads! They are not just for alligator keychains anymore!
I’m so in love with these perler bead people, I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t speak German so I have no idea what/where they are, but I heart them! Via Skidt & Kanel.
Now this is true perler bead genius—3-dimensional perler bead food. I don’t even know where to begin to understand how they did this! From the top, the picnic food is from Fave Crafts, the sushi is from this Japanese site, and the cakes are from here.
More of the traditional perler-bead world, but I still love these heart valentines from Camille Styles.
